Atypical
by It's Almost A Secret
Summary: There are some things in life there's just no planning for, no matter how many possibilities you anticipate. A mother reflects as she shares a moment with her rather atypical daughter.


**So yeah, not much going on here. I just re-read this thing and realized there were a couple of mistakes I should probably change. Nothing major, just some typos and grammar errors that I updated. I also changed the mother's name to the correct one. That's all I have to say about that.**

Wendy Murphy had long prided herself on being the type of person who was always prepared. She thought things through, analyzing situations and predicting each and every possible outcome. It was this type of advance planning that had made her successful first in her career and then as a wife and mother. However, Wendy had to admit that even with near impeccable foresight there were simply some things in life there was no accounting for.

Your only daughter growing nearly fifty feet tall on her wedding day certainly fell into that category.

In hindsight, Wendy knew she should have given more thought to the situation when she'd found Susan covered in scrapes and splotches outside of the wedding chapel. She had to admit it had been a rare lapse in judgment. Then again, how was Wendy to imagine that her daughter's claims she had been "hit by a meteorite" were anything more than figurative? Perhaps things would have turned out differently if Wendy had stopped to listen. Perhaps it would have been the same in the end. There was truly no use in dwelling on such possibilities now.

Still, that day had most assuredly become one that Wendy would never forget. Truly the image of her enlarged daughter bursting through the roof of the wedding chapel had been burned into Wendy's memory. Everything had been so chaotic up to that point that Wendy hadn't even realized what was happening until long after it was over. There had only been screaming, being pushed along by a sea of frantic bodies, and the somewhat muffled and frightened cries of her daughter in the background.

And still the situation had only grown worse from there. Outside Wendy and her husband, Carl, had immediately been seized roughly from behind by two burly military officers. The couple was forced to watch as their once-little girl was tranquilized and dragged to the ground by a military force that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

The aftermath of these events was even more terrible. An unconscious Susan had been loaded onto a large aircraft and taken to God-only-knew where. No one would give any clear answers or explain what was going on. A few moments later, a rather stern looking general had arrived and shooed everyone off. The still-frantic guests had been held briefly for questioning and then sent home with the assurance that everything was under control. One by one they departed, still shell shocked, until only Wendy, Carl and Derek were left awaiting some sort of explanation.

Wendy had hardly even heard the man's –General Monger, as they'd learned he was called – words as he spoke. She could only feel her own indignation rising as he told them that Susan, their Susan, was a danger, a menace, a _monster_, and had to be removed from society for the safety of the general public. What gave him the right to stand here and say these things about her daughter? This was the little girl that Wendy had raised and these people had absolutely no right to take Susan away.

However, the general ignored these claims and eventually the three of them were "escorted" home by force. Derek seemed too disconcerted to understand what was happening, and all of the struggling in the world on the part of the Murphy's did no good in the end.

The next two weeks had been the most horrible of Wendy's life. There was no word of anything regarding her daughter and no way to get in touch with the officers who'd taken her away. It was as if Susan had never existed and Wendy was making herself sick with worry. Guests from the wedding called to see what was going on, but Wendy had no idea what to say to them. It was a mother's worst nightmare come true and it seemed she might give up hope of ever seeing her daughter again.

Then finally, impossibly, the call Wendy had been hoping for had come. Apparently Susan, referred to on the phone as "Ginormica," which Wendy just thought sounded ridiculous, had somehow aided a government operation and as a result was being sent home from wherever she'd been contained. In their unbridled joy and excitement, she and Carl had practically forgotten the extent of Susan's strange condition. After all, they'd only seen her at full size for a few minutes before she'd been taken away, and with all of the chaos ensuing around them at the time nothing had seemed real.

Unfortunately, this lapse of memory made for a bit of a wake up call when Susan actually came plodding down the block. The slight tremors from within the house had been the first sign of Susan's approach, and Wendy and Carl had raced outside to meet her. It was a bit hard to communicate the shock of seeing her daughter again. Susan stood much taller than any home on the block, and Wendy couldn't see the girl's face without craning her neck so far she was practically doubled over.

Wendy liked to tell herself, in retrospect, that she had by no means, even for a short period of time, been afraid of her own daughter in that moment. But in honesty, the sight of a silver haired giantess standing on the crushed and splintered remains of what had been the front yard fence was a bit much to take in at once. She had been apprehensive at first, but when the giantess turned around Wendy saw only her daughter there. Susan's subsequent cries of, "Mom? Daddy!" were enough to dispel any lingering apprehensions, and Wendy knew in that moment that this was still her baby girl.

Susan bent to hug them, and Wendy noted that her daughter's hand was larger than Wendy's entire body. It seemed almost impossible that this was the same little girl Wendy had held in her arms and comforted during thunderstorms, or gone wedding dress shopping only a few weeks ago. Still, the relief of seeing her daughter alive and safe had completely overshadowed Susan's size.

Those events had occurred weeks ago by now. On this particular afternoon, Wendy was busying herself by tidying up the house a bit. Lost in her musings, she was caught off guard by a loud tapping noise coming from behind her. Turning around to the source of the disturbance, she let out a shriek at the sight of a large eye peering in through the second story window. Still clutching her chest, she took a moment to compose herself before moving to unlatch the window. She leaned out and craned her neck up to look at her daughter, who had risen up to stand at full height.

"Sorry mom," said Susan, seeming a bit abashed for having frightened her mother, "I didn't know what else to do. I couldn't use the doorbell…"

Wendy smiled slightly, still not quite used to the situation. This was, after all, only the third visit from Susan since the incident. Wendy had been informed yesterday evening that her daughter had finished taking care of whatever problem had come up in Paris and was planning another brief visit home, this time without her rather…colorful friends. Wendy had not, however; been informed of exactly when her daughter would be arriving, and Susan's inability to use a telephone made it impossible for her to call ahead and say she was on her way.

Still, Wendy tried to be as calm and collected as possible. "No problem, hon," she said, "Let me just head downstairs and I'll be out in a jiff."

"Oh, don't worry about it mom, I've got it," Susan responded. Before Wendy could protest, her daughter's gargantuan hand appeared through the window frame and scooped her up.

With surprising deftness, Susan lifted and gently placed her mother on a flatter portion of the roof, presumably so that it would be easier to make eye contact during conversation. However, looking up, Wendy realized that the top portion of the roof only came up to somewhere just above her daughter's waist. Susan also seemed to notice this, and she sat down to lean against the side of the house so that her head was level with where her mother was perched.

Wendy could just imagine what this sight must look like to her neighbors, who were most assuredly watching the scene unfold through a gap in their blinds. Of course, the majority of Modesto was, by now, familiar with the Murphy family's situation. After all, Susan was a bit difficult to miss, and proper explanations had been issued to the public to ensure that panic would not ensue whenever she decided to visit.

"Is daddy home?" Susan asked, her somewhat booming voice breaking Wendy out of her thoughts.

"No, he's working late tonight dear. I'm sorry we didn't have more notice that you'd be coming or you know he would have been here."

"Oh, I'm sorry about that. I would have called but…" she trailed off, looking down at her folded hands.

"It's alright honey," Wendy replied quickly, not meaning to upset her daughter in any way.

An awkward silence hung in the air for a moment, both parties groping for something to say that would get the conversation going.

Finally Wendy settled on an acceptable topic. "So how was Paris?" she asked. She knew that Susan had always wanted to visit the city and hoped her daughter's enthusiasm would dispel some of the tension hanging between them.

"Oh it was lovely," Susan began, eyes lighting up immediately, "I mean, we didn't really spend too much time there after we took care of that giant snail…thing. It was a little hard to explain to the general public why a giant woman and an assorted gang of monsters were hanging around. Oh, but we did get to see the Eiffel Tower, and I got some great views of the city from above."

Susan smiled good-naturedly; looking the most like her old self Wendy had seen her since the change. It did astound Wendy how casual and flippant Susan seemed about the whole situation. She acted as though there was nothing strange about it at all. Then again, Wendy supposed this was probably the best attitude to have given the circumstances, and Susan had probably had much more time to adjust to her new lifestyle than her poor parents.

The two chatted about frivolous topics for a bit longer before, during a lapse in the conversation, Susan suddenly grew serious. "Mom," she asked softly, breaking eye contact to wrap her arms around her knees, "Are you and daddy upset with me?"

Wendy was caught off guard by the question, and not immediately sure how to respond. It was true that this was not exactly the life she had envisioned for her daughter. It meant that Wendy would never have in-laws or be a grandmother, and her relationship with her daughter would never be the same. After all, Susan couldn't stay over for long when she couldn't fit into the house, and whatever assignments the government would be sending her on would surely keep her away for long periods of time.

And yet, in the end, all Wendy and Carl really wanted for their daughter was for her to be happy, and if growing fifty feet tall accomplished that then Wendy embraced the change. After all, it was Susan's life to live as she saw fit, and Wendy knew she could be proud of her daughter for the sacrifices she'd already made for the good of the earth as a whole.

As gently as possible, Wendy responded, "Of course not honey. Your father and I couldn't be prouder of you." She would have placed a comforting hand on Susan's shoulder if she could reach it from where she was sitting.

Sheepishly, Susan looked up at her mother and smiled softly. She continued, "I know this whole situation is extremely weird. I just wanted to make sure…you know, you're not too freaked out by it or something."

Wendy smiled. "Well, I'm not going to tell you that this situation remotely resembles anything normal honey, but you know that your father and I will support you in anything you choose to do, even if that entails taking certain things in stride."

Susan smiled again, this time at full force, obviously feeling better for having her concerns addressed. "Thanks mom, really. That means a lot to me you know."

Silence hung in the air once more, this one more companionable than awkward. Finally, after a few moments, Susan stood again and turned to look down at her mother.

"Well, I'm sorry to cut this visit so short, but I really should be going. The other monsters are waiting for me just outside of town and they're so overprotective that they'll probably come looking for me if I take too long. Tell daddy I'm sorry I missed him and I'll visit again as soon as possible," she said.

"I'm going to hold you to that missy," said Wendy, smiling as she placed her hands on her hips.

Susan giggled slightly and then leaned forward and placed her hand against her mother's back in a sort of awkward hug. Wendy closed her eyes as Susan picked her up again, sure she would never get used to the feeling of being lifted so effortlessly. Once Susan had placed her mother gently back inside the house through the window, she turned and waved once more.

Wendy watched her daughter go, chuckling softly as Susan twisted and teetered to avoid crushing a car parked along the side of the road. Perhaps, she mused, the unplanned things in life were exactly what made it so exciting.


End file.
